


At The End Of All Things

by muldertorture (steelneena)



Series: The Truth and the Light [7]
Category: The X-Files
Genre: #mulderscreek, 2012, Action, Aliens, Angst, F/M, Post-Apocalypse, Post-Colonization (X-Files), Reunion, Temporary Character Death, The Nursery Files Prompt, baby!, challengefic, gratuitous pop culture references, temporary major character death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-29
Updated: 2020-02-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:28:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22960948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/steelneena/pseuds/muldertorture
Summary: The world ended in 2012.It's 2014.For William Van de Kamp, things are just getting started.It begins with a dream and two strangers who lead a resistance against Them.How it ends?Only William can decide.
Relationships: Dana Scully & William | Jackson Van De Kamp, Fox Mulder & William | Jackson Van De Kamp, Fox Mulder/Dana Scully, John Doggett/happiness lbr, Monica Reyes/Original Female Character(s), Sorry, and I'm not here for shaggy headed womanizer william, except he's not Jackson because I started writing this before the revival
Series: The Truth and the Light [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/395458
Kudos: 14





	At The End Of All Things

**Author's Note:**

> I began writing this so long ago now, it's not even funny. Originally composed pre-revival and remaining free of revival elements. WIP. Number 7 in the "The Truth and the Light" series. I'm finally putting this up, because part 5 (Resurgence) is in its final beta stages, and I'm overeager. 
> 
> From the challenge posts at Mulder's Creek "The Nursery Files": http://www.mulderscreek.com/tnf/challenge63.html  
> Your challenge: If the invasion date Mulder found at Mount Weather was correct, the invasion began in December of 2012. And if William survived it, he's turning 13 nearly a year and a half later.
> 
> Is May of 2014 a time of peace after the invasion was defeated? Or is it a time of life turned upside down under alien occupation?
> 
> Write a fic set on William's 13th birthday, and show us what life is like now that They have come.

**Journal**

It’s my birthday. I’m thirteen. Officially a teenager. Pop says I was already a teenager last year, because 12 is basically the same as 13. Whatever that means. Mom doesn’t agree. Mom wishes I was still ‘a little kid’. Ha.

It feels kind of weird though, having birthdays. They didn’t remember. I had to tell them.

This time, _before_ , I was settling into the theatre to see _Men In Black III_. Pop didn’t tell Mom that we went. It was his special present to me, a big kid movie. It’s wild now, thinking about it. How we laughed and laughed about the weird looking aliens, and Will Smith being dorky, but also kind of cool at the same time.

I remember Pop’s laugh. This really big, dog-like bark.

I haven’t heard it in a while.

(I still like _Men In Black._ I still like all of it. Does that make me bad? A traitor to the human race? I dunno.)

 _Before,_ I dreamed about what I’d do once I was a teenager. It’s weird. I thought it would be such a big deal. Like, I’d take a girl to the movies _by myself_ or something. Big whoop.

I don’t think there’s much at all special about being a teenager now. No eighth grade. No movie theatres. Heck, no movies! At least, not any new ones, or ones that play on tv. Speaking of tv, since Pop and Mom sort of forgot my birthday this year, they gave me the old one with a built in VHS player to put in my room. It used to be in the basement, but since presents aren’t really a thing anymore, just like syndicated tv, they let me have it upstairs. I’ve still got _Starship Troopers_ stashed under the mattress, and I think I’m gonna watch it tonight. If Mom knew, she’d kill me. There’s boobs! Dina Meyer is _hot._ Kyle would have been thirteen too, this month, and it was his big brother’s movie, which we snitched to watch secretly at the sleepover, and then he forgot to take it with him when he went home, and then…well, the rest is history.

Is history still a thing if there’ll be no one around to remember it? Probably. I remember Granddad saying once about trees falling in the forest not making sound if no one was there to witness it. But I think that’s silly. Just because we’re not there to know it, to hear it, doesn’t mean it didn’t make noise.

Maybe, someday, good aliens – I think the word is uhhhh _benevolent_ or something like that – anyway, maybe they’ll come and they’ll find this by some super crazy miracle and maybe they won’t be able to speak English, but I still wrote these words, so I definitely existed.

It’s been a year and a half. Things are weird. I definitely didn’t think that this would be the world after an Alien Invasion, but hey, I guess things could be worse.

My parents could be dead, like Maria’s.

I could be dead, like Kyle, or Granddad

And Jimmy.

Things I Miss

\- No more baseball league

\- No more Colorado Rockies

\- No more new books

\- No more new movies

\- Jimmy

\- Kyle

\- Granddad

\- Bilbo (Our Cat)

\- ~~School~~ School

\- Going camping

\- Halloween

\- Reruns of the Twilight Zone even though they freak me out

\- PBS Science specials

Things I Don’t Miss

\- The Nightmares/Dreams

They came back this morning. I mean, they don’t really go away, they just _are_ , but they’ve definitely been happening more often _since._ And they just used to be dreams. Weird dreams, yeah, on a beach I’ve never been to, but harmless. Anyways, it was the same guy as it always is. I’m sure of it. _Before_ I never had nightmares like this. Sure, I had my superpowers, but this is definitely not a side effect I’m interested in.

I’ve never written it down like that before.

I’ve never even _said it_. Well, except to Sosa, of course. (That’s my dog.)

This was my dream:

It was him. Even though his face wasn’t visible(and never has been), I just _knew_ it. Just like I know myself. It was like I was hovering over him, like I was in a ceiling panel or something, but the shadows kept his face from me. This time, it was like in those old alien abduction serials in Granddad’s attic. The guy was butt naked and strapped to this weird chair-like thing? I dunno. And there were these spikes or needles or something in his ankles and his wrists and under his shoulders. Really messed up stuff like Mom wouldn’t ever let me watch, but Kyle’s brother showed us part of _Saw,_ so, it wasn’t as freaky to see. I don’t even know if he’s real, anyways. I think he is. He probably is, since it’s part of my superpowers, and they’ve never been wrong before.

Anyways, there were these needles in his cheeks too, three in each and it pulled his skin funny. Honestly, if it wasn’t for the blood, it’d look hilarious. It’s true, but even thinking it makes me want to be sick.

I mean, I don’t want anyone to be hurt, but for some reason, I really, really don’t want this guy to be hurt. I get this weird feeling in my stomach just thinking about it. It’s not like throwing up. It’s something worse. It’s like it hurts.

Anyways, that’s what I saw. Here’s his thoughts:

_Not again, not again, not again._

_It’s different this time. I can hear them. They’re coming. Do they know? Maybe. Maybe not. Doesn’t matter. ~~Fucked~~_ (I’m not supposed to say that word. I’m not even supposed to know it! But that’s what he said, so I’m writing it down.) _F-bomb. Doesn’t matter, because even for everything I can do, I still ended up F-bombed._

_\---We must reproduce the desired result. He must not be allowed to leave this place until the procedure is complete. ---_

_Doesn’t sound good. I’m not afraid to die. I’m not afraid to die. Better to die now for the truth than live later for the lie. Think of her._

_Think of her._

(‘Her’ looks like a beautiful red haired woman. Her features aren’t really clear, though, because he’s thinking of her face, and it’s not a ummmm direct feed, I guess.)

_Strong. Be strong. Gotta hold out._

_Gotta_ get _out._

I saw him make fists then, and it really was like _Saw_ because he just tried to freaking _rip_ his right arm out of the spike! The sound he made was really terrible. I think I’ll hear it forever. Anyway, he tried to rip it out, but it didn’t work the first time, so he did it _again_.

Hey God? Thank you for Evan, because I’m really glad I’ve seen _Saw,_ because I wouldn’t have wanted to see this if I hadn’t and even then, I still don’t want to.

Anyways, his whole head and thoughts were just one big scream, too, and then he kinda passed out, but not really. If he’d have passed out, the dream would have ended. But he was definitely out of it. 

It felt like I watched him for hours before he came back. That time, when he pulled the other arm, it came out in one try and he didn’t black out. There was blood everywhere. It looked weird under the lights – actually it was pretty dark and hard to see, but his blood looked dark. When Kyle…

Well, it wasn’t dark. It was like cherry pie filling. I guess it’s good that we can’t really make cherry pie anymore.

Anyways, the other arm came out, and there was a ton of blood and then he tried his legs, which was even more of a disaster, because trying that accidently made him move his face and-

He was crying. The last time I saw an adult cry was when Pop was holding Granddad’s body in the barn. I only know he was crying, because it made these little rivers in the blood. There was a lot of blood.

Then he started thinking again.

_They’re coming. Can feel my pain, the little ~~bastards~~ jerks. Hope they enjoy feeling what I am. Throat hurts. Must have been screaming aloud too. Can’t remember_

_Think of her._

_Gotta get out._

_Can’t take more._

_No more – no more pain_

_They’re coming, they’re co-_

The door opened and I saw _Them_ enter. I wasn’t surprised. Who else, right? He tried to scream again, but it just came out this really pitiful whisper. All he said was ‘no’ and then he threw his head forward and the needles in his cheeks snapped. I wanted to close my eyes, but it’s kind of hard to close a mental eye, especially when you’re in the middle of someone else’s real life nightmare.

He blacked out again, and that cut off the connection. That’s when I woke up.

Happy Birthday to me.

William Van de Kamp

  1. If you’re reading this. If it’s _You_ , reading this, I’m really sorry. I hope you’re okay. I hope you survive.



Maybe if you survive, you can answer my questions. 

Maybe if you survive, the rest of us can too. 


End file.
